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Congratulations are in order for little Miss Guided. Dylan Efron is one of four remaining faithful who made it all the way to “The Traitors” finale.
The third season of the Peacock series, based on a Dutch format, airs its finale and reunion Thursday (9 p.m. EST/6 PST).
Efron, four years younger than actor brother Zac Efron, emerged as an early fan favorite after producers positioned him as scrumptious eye candy. The “Down to Earth” producer, who’s also worked as a stuntman and in film production, is among those gathered in a Scottish castle, duking it out to determine who among them are traitors ‒ masterfully pulling off “murders” undetected ‒ and who are honest faithful. The last player(s) standing are awarded a cash prize of up to $250,000.
“I’m all for that,” Efron, 33, says of his ab-baring onscreen moments. “If you see my Instagram, I have my shirt off 90% of the time.”
Efron, a staunch “faithful,” grew up fantasizing about taking home the $1 million payday on “Survivor” and jumped at the chance to appear on “Traitors.” This season has already purged 2011 “Survivor” champ Rob Mariano (traitor); Britney Spears’ ex-husband, model Sam Asghari (faithful); and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner Bob the Drag Queen, who dubbed Efron “Miss Guided” in an attempt to throw Efron off his traitorous scent.
Efron loves the moniker and even added it to his Instagram bio. “I wasn’t expecting it to be such a moment,” he says. But “watching it, I was like, ‘Oh, wow! That’s a nickname.’”
Bob, born Christopher Caldwell, also stunned those gathered for deliberation when he said Zac Efron is “not a good” actor.
Dylan Efron says he and Bob have not talked about the moment but is confident it will be addressed at the reunion. “He’s just an entertainer,” Efron says of Bob, appearing to hold no grudges. “I don’t think he meant it.”
Dylan adds that Zac laughed off the remark and has been “enjoying” the show, teasing, “I’m saving for the reunion what he told me” about Bob’s comment.
The Feb. 27 episode concluded before the results of the roundtable were revealed. Traitors Danielle Reyes and the recently recruited Britney Haynes, both former “Big Brother” contestants, piggybacked off faithful Dolores Catania’s (“The Real Housewives of New Jersey”) suspicions of faithful Ivar Mountbatten, an extended member of Britain’s royal family. Efron, Mountbatten and their fellow faithful Gabby Windey (“The Bachelorette”) voted to banish Reyes. Reyes and Mountbatten were excused from a tie-breaking vote in which Efron and Windey doubled down on Reyes, while Catania locked in on Mountbatten. The episode ended before Haynes could reveal her vote.
Efron predicts Reyes will have the most to answer for at the cast reunion. She has been criticized for comparing fellow traitor Carolyn Wiger to Forrest Gump (a move Efron deems “below the belt”) and allegedly swearing on her grandchildren that she was a faithful.
“When you sign up to play that role, you’re going to get a lot of backlash and a lot of people want to put their two cents in,” Efron says. “But she did it and she did a great job being the villain.”
Efron attributes his longevity in the game to being able to play the part of “naïve rookie” and developing genuine relationships with his cast.
He’s open to doing more competition reality TV and continuing to document his global travels for YouTube and the small screen. He’s even ready to try his hand at acting, which frightened him before.
“As a kid, I was a little shy to step into those (roles) and said, ‘No, my brother is the actor; I couldn’t act,’” Efron recalls. “But as I gain more confidence, I think I can do a lot of things, and it’s fun to constantly prove to myself what I can do.”
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